Kentucky Republicans overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto to pass legislation allowing public college and university boards to terminate tenured faculty for “bona fide financial reasons,” including low enrollment and revenue-cost mismatches. The law—passed as House Bill 490—requires 30 days’ notice and gives professors a limited window to defend their positions before boards vote. The governor warned the standard is “ambiguous and vague” and could be used to target faculty and programs under political pressure, potentially violating contractual expectations institutions made to attract and retain educators. Higher education labor and academic freedom groups—AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers—also opposed the bill as a tool that could be used to shut down research or silence disfavored speech. Backers argued the change is needed to create consistency across Kentucky institutions. The decision shifts faculty governance leverage toward boards at the state level and raises the stakes for shared governance processes tied to tenure and program evaluation. Across the sector, institutions with Kentucky campuses will need to revisit internal policies for financial exigency, program discontinuance, and procedural protections to ensure compliance with the new termination framework.